State Editions

C'garh in good financial health: Centre

There is no proposal to grant special financial package to Chhattisgarh, the Central Government has announced.

The State of Chhattisgarh has been able to maintain revenue surplus during 2015-16 and 2016-17. Moreover, fiscal deficit of the State as proportion to gross domestic product (GSDP) over reference period is found to be within limits recommended by 14th Finance Commission, it informed.

The Prime Minister had announced special package for the States of Jammu & Kashmir and Bihar respectively to undertake sectoral development in these States. Central assistance of Rs 80,000 crore for Jammu & Kashmir and Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar was agreed for the purpose, the Government informed.

In addition, financial support of Rs 40,657 crore was also approved for other investments in the State of Bihar.

Agriculture and farmers welfare, health and family welfare, education, power, road network, electrification of rail network, tourism, skill development, petroleum & natural gas, sports and components such as permanent restoration of damaged infrastructure, rehabilitation work and other related issues requiring attention due to devastating flood of September 2014 in Jammu & Kashmir are the core areas agreed for funding under these packages. The projects under the packages are being implemented in phased manner by the respective nodal Ministry in tandem with various departments of the State Government concerned.

Chief Minister Raman Singh in March this year presented State Annual Budget estimate of Rs 76,032 crore for the fiscal 2017-18 in the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly.

Gross fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 9,647 crore, which is 3.49 per cent of GSDP while revenue surplus is estimated at Rs 4,781 crore, he informed in his budget speech.

The revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 61,313 crore while capital expenditure at Rs 14,454 crore. The highest component of expenditure at 41 per cent is for Social Sector Expenditure and 36 per cent for development of scheduled tribe areas, he said.

Welfare of poorest of the poor and inclusive growth; creation of development opportunities through infrastructure building and strengthening of human capital; digital inclusion and good governance are the highlights of the budget, Singh said.

The Chief Minister reaffirmed his commitment to the poor, the farmers, women, youth, the deprived sections of the society by introducing many pro-poor welfare measures. The Estimated Revenue receipt is Rs 66,094 crore, which includes the central share of centrally sponsored schemes i.e. Rs 14,101 crore. With an estimated growth of 6.6 per cent in tax revenue and 3.8 per cent in non-tax revenue, the total growth in State's own revenue is 6 per cent, he said in the State Assembly.

The estimated expenditure is 7.58 per cent higher than the revised estimate of 2016-17, Singh said. Due to plan and non-plan merger in central budget, the budget estimate of2017-18 is classified as revenue expenditure and capital expenditure only, he said.

Total revenue expenditure estimated is Rs 61,313 crore and total capital expenditure is Rs 14,454 crore. Capital expenditure is 19 per cent of the total expenditure, he said.

Chhattisgarh is among seven States where mineral blocks have been auctioned resulting in total additional revenue of Rs 47,551 crore to the Central Government as on November 2016.

The other States where the mineral blocks were auctioned were Andhra Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Jharkhand, the Central Government has informed.

Chhattisgarh has collected Rs 712.04 crores under 'District Mineral Foundations' (DMFs) from all the 27 districts of the State where the Foundation had been established, the Central Government has informed.

The Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) was amended through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015. One of the amendment provisions relates to introduction of Section 9B which provides for the establishment of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in any district affected by mining related operations.

The objective of the DMF is to work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations.

The Union Ministry of Mines has also commenced the process for pilot launch of Mining Surveillance System (MSS) for keeping vigil on illegal mining of even minor minerals in Chhattisgarh besides two other States, officials informed.

The process is underway to launch a system for minor minerals in coalition with the State Governments. The States of Haryana, Telangana and Chhattisgarh have been selected for a pilot launch, officials informed.